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The Great Game: A Thriller
Not yet published
Expected 14 Jul 26An outsider in London investigates a series of brutal murders targeting English aristocrats in a timely and provocative historical novel brimming with intrigue, wit, and rage.
London, 1905: Law student and military veteran Balvinder dev Singh has found an extralegal way to fund his studies. As friend and accomplice to the infamous gentleman thief AJ Raffles, he rubs shoulders with the upper crust—and steals their valuables. That is, until their next mark, an imperialist general, is grotesquely murdered in the library of his Mayfair mansion. Bal and Raffles find themselves implicated in a series of killings that soon attracts the attention of Scotland Yard—and the aging Sherlock Holmes himself.
As Bal works to clear his name, he must hide his checkered past from a new acquaintance, the beautiful Irish violinist Maud Adler. Her fiery views lead Bal to question his own place in the world. But when he comes face-to-face with a plot to strike at the very heart of the British government, he must decide how much he’s willing to risk for his adopted city.
London, 1905: Law student and military veteran Balvinder dev Singh has found an extralegal way to fund his studies. As friend and accomplice to the infamous gentleman thief AJ Raffles, he rubs shoulders with the upper crust—and steals their valuables. That is, until their next mark, an imperialist general, is grotesquely murdered in the library of his Mayfair mansion. Bal and Raffles find themselves implicated in a series of killings that soon attracts the attention of Scotland Yard—and the aging Sherlock Holmes himself.
As Bal works to clear his name, he must hide his checkered past from a new acquaintance, the beautiful Irish violinist Maud Adler. Her fiery views lead Bal to question his own place in the world. But when he comes face-to-face with a plot to strike at the very heart of the British government, he must decide how much he’s willing to risk for his adopted city.
236 pages, Paperback
Expected publication July 14, 2026
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
Thank you NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for a chance to review The Great Game
by Arvind Ethan David
The Great Game is a total delight: a razor-sharp historical thriller that pulls off something genuinely rare: it's wildly entertaining and it has something real to say.
Arvind Ethan David drops us into 1905 London alongside Balvinder Singh, a Sikh law student and military veteran moonlighting as accomplice to gentleman thief AJ Raffles. When their next mark turns up dead, Bal is suddenly entangled in a murder mystery that reaches all the way to a very aged Sherlock Holmes. The premise sounds busy, but David makes it feel effortless — the plot clicks like clockwork.
What elevates this above clever pastiche is Bal himself. Watching a Brown man navigate the drawing rooms and dark alleys of imperial London — sharp, dignified, furious beneath the surface; and gives the whole adventure a pulse that most genre fiction simply doesn't have. The wit is genuine, the intrigue is real, and the rage underneath it all gives the story its teeth.
David announces himself as a major new voice in historical fiction. The Great Game is the kind of debut you finish and immediately want to press into someone's hands.
by Arvind Ethan David
The Great Game is a total delight: a razor-sharp historical thriller that pulls off something genuinely rare: it's wildly entertaining and it has something real to say.
Arvind Ethan David drops us into 1905 London alongside Balvinder Singh, a Sikh law student and military veteran moonlighting as accomplice to gentleman thief AJ Raffles. When their next mark turns up dead, Bal is suddenly entangled in a murder mystery that reaches all the way to a very aged Sherlock Holmes. The premise sounds busy, but David makes it feel effortless — the plot clicks like clockwork.
What elevates this above clever pastiche is Bal himself. Watching a Brown man navigate the drawing rooms and dark alleys of imperial London — sharp, dignified, furious beneath the surface; and gives the whole adventure a pulse that most genre fiction simply doesn't have. The wit is genuine, the intrigue is real, and the rage underneath it all gives the story its teeth.
David announces himself as a major new voice in historical fiction. The Great Game is the kind of debut you finish and immediately want to press into someone's hands.
Review of advance copy
Thank you to the Center for Fiction for providing a copy of this book in exchange for my feedback.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews